Nottingham Forest 3 v Wigan Athletic 1 - EFL Championship

Saturday 26th January 2019
SkyBet EFLChampionship
at the City Ground
Nottingham Forest (1) 3
Joe Lolley 19,
Matty Cash 48,
Adlene Guédioura 80
Wigan Athletic (1) 1
Josh Windass 33
Attendance: 28,848

Aitor Karanka was still in charge of Nottingham Forest when I originally picked up my ticket for this game... and a few days later, his side put Championship leaders Leeds United to the sword by four goals to two at the City Ground. And though speculation had been rife for a while; following a FA Cup defeat at Chelsea the following week, without much further ado, Karanka was gone, amidst yet another intriguing episode of the frequently baffling ongoing series of eyebrow raising managerial hiring and firing sagas.

Subsequently, Simon Ireland stepped into the vacancy in a caretaker capacity for the Reds, for just one game (a defeat at Reading), before club legend Martin O'Neill was appointed as the new manager at the City Ground. His first game in charge was last weeks home game against Bristol City, which Lee Johnson's side won by a solitary Famara Diedhiou strike, without return, in front of a sell out crowd. It was a result that saw Forest slip to twelfth in the table in the table, one place below next Saturday's opponents Birmingham City.
But O'Neill's first win in charge this afternoon, saw his side move up three places in the table and to within four points of the lowest placed side amongst the current play off challengers... a team that go by the name of Derby County! And the Rams will be visiting Forest for a hotly anticipated East Midlands derby next month.

There was no small amount of consternation among the home support prior to kick off, over Forest's starting line up, with Ben Watson recalled to the starting line up, as captain, while the prolific frontman, Lewis Grabban, started the afternoon on the bench. From the responses that I heard, Watson doesn't have a Nottingham branch of his fan club as of yet, but he filled in well, playing in a role just in front of the back four, in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Daryl Murphy playing as the lone striker, but with an attacking midfield structure pushing high up the pitch (and covering the whole width of it too) behind him.
All of the pre-match antipathy towards O'Neill's selection and tactics was soon evaporated, along with any initial concerns and doubt. When all is said and done, the guy has been in management for three decades and has got a fair idea of what he's doing by now.

That said... after the game, the Reds manager claimed that this team could still get better... but, with all due respect, they'll bloody well need to, if they are going to make a serious push for promotion from here on in.
All told, even though the match stats showed that Paul Cook's Wigan created just as many chances as their hosts, Forest never looked like losing this game at any point, and they had set out their stall accordingly to overcome the 'Tics'. But although you could see the signs of some decent embryonic ideas forming and coming together, while they went through the gears in a functional and steady enough manner, with a few mod cons chucked in, if they're to get back up the table among the big hitters any time soon, they need to adopt a mantle more becoming of a full tilt side, sans brakes or a reverse gear. In essence, they need to be putting their opponents under the cosh more readily... and though the experiment of utilising Watson as an extra layer of defensive mettle worked, to a point, they still looked vulnerable at the back at times.

It will be interesting to see how Forest set up when they face Garry Monk's Blues at St. Andrew's next weekend.
During the interim, I would imagine that Mr O'Neill will have been busy wheeling and dealing before the transfer deadline, as will his opposite number this afternoon, who is, by all accounts, taking Forest's Danny Fox to Wigan, which is why he was rested today.
One incoming addition to the City Ground camp any time soon, appears to be Roy Keane, as assistant manager. He was at the City Ground today to run the rule over his potential new charges, and as another ex Brian Clough signing, he'll be a popular figure on the south bank of the Trent.
I bet you all wish that you had a ticket for this eagerly anticipated forthcoming game as well now, don't you!?

From the outset, Wigan tried to get a foothold in the game, but their distribution in the final third was found to be wanting early on, and Forest began to get forward with more purpose, particularly down the left hand side through Joe Lolley... and it was he who opened the scoring in the nineteenth minute, spotting some space ahead of him to run into, before advancing in field on the visitors goal from the left and picking his spot, just inside the right hand post, well beyond the reach of Jamie Jones, from twenty yards out.
Moments later, Costel Pantmilion, was forced into tipping Kal Naismith's looping free kick over his bar and Forest had a let off,when Cedric Kipre blazed the ball over from the resulting corner. Kipre, the Wigan defender put in a great shift all afternoon and was a tower of strength for the visitors.

Josh Windass caught out Pantilimon with a snap shot from outside the area, that found it's way into the Forest net via the keepers hand and Wigan were on level terms after thirty three minutes.
Lolley almost restored Forest's lead just before the break, but he planted the ball just wide of the right hand post, from the edge of the D.
HT: Reds 1 v Latics 1
Three minutes after the restart, a neatly aimed pass from midfield, by the industrious Adlene Guédioura, put Matty Cash away through the right channel and he surged forward before beating Jones with a well struck angled shot.
Pantilimon's bravery protected the Reds lead, as Darron Gibson's long ball into the six yard box caused a scramble in the Forest goalmouth. The keeper took a hefty knock for his troubles, but was alright to continue after receiving several minutes of treatment.
Cash went close to netting his second goal of the afternoon, but diverted Lolley's left wing free kick narrowly wide of the back post.

Andy Davies, the match referee, appeared to have brought his 'I-Spy Book of Forest Players' along with him during the first half and  seemed to be intent on ticking every single one of them off as 'booked'... subsequently, there was a massive ironic cheer on the hour mark, when he finally cautioned a Wigan player, namely: Sam Morsy.
In the eightieth minute, Guedioura made the win secure for the hosts, with an instinctive finish from twenty yeards out, that beat Jones off of the inside of the left hand upright.
However, shortly afterwards, Windass was tripped by Claudio Yacob inside the Forest area, presenting Wigan with the opportunity to get back into the game. But Joe Garner's spot kick was saved by Pantilimon, who recovered quickly to keep Sam Morsy's effort out from the rebound as well, and Forest safely saw out the remainder of the game.
FT: Nottingham Forest 3 v Wigan Athletic 1